Last summer, Hallie Miller, a University of Maryland, College Park student, joined 16 other local college students and recent college graduates for Baltimore Onward Israel, an eight-week internship program in Israel. During the summer, she worked at Newshound Media International, an international news production company, while living in Tel Aviv.

Miller talked about her once-in-a-lifetime experience on Baltimore Onward Israel, subsidized by The Associated’s Israel Engagement Center.

Tell me about the company you worked for.

My boss, Paula Slier, founded Newshound Media, headquartered in Tel Aviv. She, along with her freelancers, produce video packages all over the world, which are syndicated on such news sites as Channel News Asia and Russia Today.

What was your job?

I edited video packages and went on shoots with the photographer. In addition, I did a lot of research on her projects. For example, she was traveling to Denmark to moderate a debate on Syrian refugees, and all of the participants on the panel were members of the APF (The Alliance for Peace and Freedom), a European nationalist party within the EU. I provided her with profiles of the debaters, what they were likely to say and the platform they were espousing.

Most interesting experience?

I got to live stream the Jerusalem gay pride parade. Paula provided commentary and I offered pointers on what she should talk about.

Difference between working in Israel and the U.S.?

I felt like there wasn’t a traditional internship culture in Israel, the way there is in America. I didn’t expect to be so immersed in my work and treated like an employee and given so much responsibility.

How was Tel Aviv?

Amazing. We lived in the heart of the city, a five-minute walk to the beach, 10 minutes to the Shuk Ha’Carmel (the Carmel Market). I spent weekends at the beach. We would often enjoy Kabbalat Shabbat on the beach with a live band playing. I also loved the boutiques. Tel Aviv is like New York if it were also a beach town.

Did you travel?

Mondays were our travel day and the group would go all over Israel. We went to the Negev, Haifa, Ashkelon, Safed. I have relatives in Jerusalem so I got to see them at least once a week.

What would you tell others about the Onward experience?

I loved it. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my journalism degree. This internship made me realize how much I want to produce.

Learn about the 2017 summer Baltimore Onward Israel program at associated.org/experienceisrael

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